Review: Graco SnugRider Elite Car Seat Carrier

Absolutely LOVE this stroller!!!

We bought it for a 2-week-long trip to Europe and it was fantastic!

Our Graco car seat clicks quickly into the stroller. Pushing it is very smooth. The wheels turn easily and brakes work well. The parent's tray is great for holding drinks and a phone, wallet, camera, or snack.

There isn't a canopy on the frame, so we used a large muslin blanket to help keep the sun off our baby. We tied one side to the handle of the car seat, and put the other side on top of the stroller handle. Worked like a charm!

The handle is easily adjusted and perfect for my tall husband. It's also padded, which is a great bonus. The frame seems quite sturdy and folds down easily. It's also very lightweight and takes up a very minimum of space. Perfect for us in the taxi, bus, subway, car, and airplane.

It folds fairly easily, though you'll want to practice in advance so you can do it quickly. To fold: on the handle there's a grey button you push with your thumb, while pushing the grey grip bar that's underneath the handle. Then simply fold, and go!

The basket underneath is nice and large, though I do wish it were easier to access. At the front part of the basket there's a flap with velcro and snaps that are fairly easy to unhook for access to the basket. This is great for removing smaller items. Most of the time, however, we found it easier to just remove the whole car seat to get our diaper bag out of the basket.

I love this stroller so much that it's tempting to use it instead of our Graco Dynamo Lite Classic Stroller! Alas, our 3-year-old likes to sit in the basket of the Dynamo while the 1-year-old is in the car seat, so we'll stick with the Dynamo...for now. :)

Click below to buy it at Amazon:
Graco SnugRider Elite Car Seat Carrier

Review: Graco Dynamo Lite Classic Connect Stroller, Oasis

I like this stroller, for the most part.

We received this after having problems with the folding mechanism on the Graco stroller we bought as part of our travel system (see that review here: http://reviewgeex.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-graco-spree-travel-system.html)

The pattern is cute (though I wish it matched our car seat, like our original stroller did). Very gender neutral. Canopy is large and works well. I like that it has a little flap check on baby without opening the whole canopy.  Parent tray holds most drinks fairly well, and the open compartment is great for phones, keys, wallet, camera, etc. Child's tray holds a bottle or sippy cup really well. I also like that it opens easily from either side (for my independent little one!)

Our Graco car seat snaps easily and securely into place. Basket underneath is very roomy and sturdy! Our 3-year-old likes to crawl in there while I'm pushing the baby in the car seat, and the basket easily holds her weight! The 5-point harness is great when we're not using the car seat. Straps are fairly easy to adjust.

The wheels have been squeaking for awhile but I think some WD-40 would solve that problem very quickly. The folding mechanism on the handle has never gotten stuck.

My only big complaint is that it's really awkward to unfold. Impossible to do it with one hand. You have to hold the handle with your right hand and use your left to pull the latch off the left side, and pull the handle out to unfold it. But if your left hand slips while holding the latch, you get to start again. Lucky you!

Folding the stroller is pretty quick: you push the button, turn the handle and fold. It folds in half and fits in a fairly small space, which is nice. It's just the unfolding that's a pain.

I wish the child's foot rest were wider, but that's not a huge issue.

Overall, a great stroller.

Click below to buy it at Amazon:

Graco Dynamo Lite Classic Connect Stroller, Oasis

Update: May 2014
We've been using this stroller almost daily for the past 3 years and it's still in great shape! Wish unfolding it were easier, but it works and we like it. :)

Review: Graco Spree Travel System, Barcelona Bluegrass

Overall: a decent travel system. Next time I'd probably get something different though.

First, the pros:

Car seat - Very sturdy, pattern is nice for a girl or boy, clicks easily into the base of all 3 of our Graco strollers, canopy is great for shade, padding is comfy, cover is easy to wash (we hang it to dry), seat belts work well and are easy for us to buckle/unbuckle.

Stroller - Love how it folds up! Basket is nice and roomy, pattern is pretty, canopy works great, cupholders are fairly deep, child's footrest is wide.

Cons:

Car seat - this may be a personal preference, but the seat belts can only be adjusted from behind the car seat. During quick weather changes (snowstorms, rain, etc.) it's a huge inconvenience to get the straps adjusted correctly when time is of the essence! We keep the base latched into our van, and it's nearly impossible to adjust the straps when the car seat is clicked into the base. So we end up doing a weird dance called, "balance the car seat sideways on the base and hurry to adjust the straps while the baby is screaming and the other kids are running in the thunderstorm." Next time, I'd buy a car seat with straps that can be adjusted in the front!

Stroller - loved pretty much everything about this stroller...until the folding mechanism stopped working. After a few weeks of having the stroller, the button and twisting part on the handle started "sticking". Sometimes they would work, other times we had to just shove the stroller in the back of the van without folding it (I don't know what we'd have done without a ginormous trunk!) After a few more weeks, the folding mechanism stopped working altogether. We wrote to Graco and they had us return the stroller in exchange for a different one. (Their customer service was fantastic in this regard!) Unfortunately, the stroller they sent us is a 'Graco Dynamo Lite Classic Connect Stroller'. It's an ok stroller, but unfolding it is really bizarre. (See my other review for more info).

I still love the Graco brand (and their customer service!) but next time I'd buy a car seat with front seat belt adjustment, and a stroller without folding mechanism issues.

Click below to see it at Amazon:

Graco Spree Travel System, Barcelona Bluegrass

Update: May 2014
We're now using the car seat with our youngest child and it's still in fantastic shape! Still wish we could adjust the seat belts from the front, but at least it's lasted us a good, long while.